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Nicholas Lovell
Home   >   Analysis and Opinion   >   Analysis   >   59% of the Top Grossing Apps in the whole of 2011 were Free

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59% of the Top Grossing Apps in the whole of 2011 were Free

By on December 19, 2011

I think that the data points about whether free works are becoming very clear.

In 2011, across the whole Appstore, 59% of the top grossing apps (not games, but all apps) were free.

Last time I did this analysis – a snapshot in November 2010 – the figure was 34%.

The charts below show the price points and genres of the top 101 games on the AppStore, according to Apple’s Rewind feature. Cast your eye down the list to see which products *really* know how to make money on the AppStore.

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Note that the >£39,99 is entirely populated by expensive navigation apps (mainly from Tom Tom). The full list is below.

If you are still thinking of charging for your app: why?

Rank Title Price Category
1 Tap Zoo £ – Games
2 Poker by Zynga £ – Games
3 Tom Tom £ 39.99 Navigation
4 Smurf Village £ – Games
5 Tap Pet Hotel £ – Games
6 Angry Birds £ 0.69 Games
7 Tom Tom Western Europe £ 49.99 Navigation
8 iMobsters £ – Games
9 Zombie Farm £ – Games
10 World War £ – Games
11 Haypi Kingdom £ – Games
12 Kingdoms at War £ – Games
13 Texas Poker £ – Games
14 Infinity Blade £ 3.99 Games
15 Farmville £ – Games
16 Angry Birds Seasons £ 0.69 Games
17 Call of Duty Zombies £ 2.99 Games
18 Tom Tom Europe £ 69.99 Navigation
19 MyCarCheck £ – Utilities
20 Cut the Rope £ 0.69 Games
21 The Sims 3 £ 2.99 Games
22 Angry Birds Rio £ 0.69 Games
23 Restaurant Story £ – Games
24 Plants versus Zombies £ 0.69 Games
25 Real Racing 2 £ 2.99 Games
26 Hipstamatic £ 1.49 Games
27 Crime City £ – Games
28 Racing Live £ – Games
29 Golfshot Golf GPS £ 20.99 Sports
30 Lil’ Pirates £ – Games
31 Original Gangstaz £ – Games
32 Need for Speed Hot Pursuit £ 1.49 Games
33 Co-Pilot Live £ 29.99 Navigation
34 Grindr Extra £ 1.99 Social Networking
35 Gun Bros £ – Games
36 Tiny Chef £ – Games
37 Shazam £ – Music
38 Vampires Live £ – Games
39 Tiny Tower £ – Games
40 Bakery Story £ – Games
41 Badoo £ – Social Networking
42 Stick Cricket £ – Games
43 The Guardian £ – News
44 Bloons TD4 £ 1.99 Games
45 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 £ 0.69 Games
46 Street Fighter IV £ 2.99 Games
47 Outdoors GB £ 4.99 Navigation
48 Camera+ £ 0.69 Games
49 The Cube £ 1.49 Games
50 Fashion Story £ – Games
51 City Story £ – Games
52 High Noon £ – Games
53 Match.com £ – Social Networking
54 Word Lens £ – Travel
55 Coin Dozer £ – Games
56 Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus £ 4.99 Games
57 Zombie Gunship £ 1.49 Games
58 Original Gangstaz Rock £ – Games
59 Global War £ – Games
60 Marvel Comics £ – Books
61 Galaxy on Fire 2 £ 2.99 Games
62 Guitar Hero £ 9.99 Games
63 Ultimate Guitar Tabs £ 1.99 Music
64 Farm Story £ – Games
65 Fragger £ 0.69 Games
66 Say What you See £ 0.69 Games
67 Flirtomatic £ – Social Networking
68 Moto X Mayhem £ 0.69 Games
69 Trade Nations £ – Games
70 Worms 2: Armageddon £ 0.69 Games
71 We Rule Deluxe £ – Games
72 Dead Space £ 4.99 Games
73 Kingdoms Live £ – Games
74 Top Girl £ – Games
75 Tap Zoo: Arctic £ – Games
76 Valor £ – Games
77 Talking Tom Cat £ – Games
78 CoPilot Live Premium £ 24.99 Navigation
79 Comics £ – Books
80 Dragon Vale £ – Games
81 Top Gear: Stunt School £ – Games
82 Contract Killer £ – Games
83 Tap Petshop £ – Games
84 Tom Tom US & Canada £ 34.99 Navigation
85 Jamie’s Recipes £ – Lifestyle
86 Tap Tap Revenge 4 £ – Games
87 Magic Piano £ – Music
88 Gun Club 2 £ – Entertainment
89 Trivial Pursuit £ 0.69 Games
90 Outdoors Great Britain £ 1.99 Navigation
91 Zombie Café £ – Games
92 Happy Park £ – Games
93 Tap Fish 2 £ – Games
94 N.O.V.A. 2 £ 4.99 Games
95 Cooking Mama £ 4.99 Games
96 Fonejacker £ 0.69 Games
97 Metalstorm Wingman £ – Games
98 The Crystal Maze £ 0.69 Games
99 Asphalt 6 Adrenaline £ – Games
100 Nano Studio £ 10.49 Music
101 Cityville Hometown £ – Games

About Nicholas Lovell

Nicholas is the founder of Gamesbrief, a blog dedicated to the business of games. It aims to be informative, authoritative and above all helpful to developers grappling with business strategy. He is the author of a growing list of books about making money in the games industry and other digital media, including How to Publish a Game and Design Rules for Free-to-Play Games, and Penguin-published title The Curve: thecurveonline.com